Packing material



ot.1o,1967 w, T. NYE Ef AL 3,346,105

` PACKING MATERIAL Filed June 18, 1962 1 Y (wu/4M 7. M4' F 6 4 y Kaff/.5ueeiu ArrozA/i/ United States Patent Otice 3,346,105 Patented Oct. 10,1967 3,346,105 PACKING MATERIAL William T. Nye, San Mateo, Calif., andKeith S. Burrell,

Columbus, Ohio, assigner-s to Crown Zellerbach Corporation, SanFrancisco, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Filed `Tune 18, 1962, Ser.No. 203,041 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-59) The present invention relates ingeneral to a versatile shock absorbing and protective packaging materialof a flexible nature and having a pressure sensitive adhesive surface.More particularly, the invention provides a cornposite material having asmooth iluted or embossed surface which is adapted to formation into areleasably adhered convolute roll form or sheeted and stacked intlatwise relation and yet may 'be readily removed or dispensed from Suchformation for immediate usage without further manipulation or removal ofa protective liner or the like.

In the past, various types of pressure sensitive adhesive tapes andpacking materia-ls have been used but these required the use ofprotective layers which were relatively non-adherent to the adhesivesurfaces. Such relatively non-adherent layers included covering sheetsor coatings over the adhesive surfaces or in some cases the coatingswere applied to the opposite face of the substrate. Often the substratewas formed from fibrous cel-lulosic material-s, as in Patent No.2,744,624, in which case the non-adherent layers were necessarily ofparticular importance to avoid delamination of the materials or at leastthe excessive picking of the fibers which rendered the productsubstantially, if not entirely, worthless for the intended usage.

In any event, t-he requirement for the non-adherent layers added to theexpense of manufacture and often required special manipulation in usageof the materials such as the removal of covering sheets. Such additionalexpense and operations hindered the advantageous use of such materialsin high speed modern packing operations.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide apressure sensitive adhesive packing material which has the advantageover the prior art of gaining rea-dy release from a convolute roll formor adhered together stacked relation by means of the structural featuresofthe material.

Another object is to provide a pressure sensitive packing materialhaving a smooth pressure sensitive adhesive coated surface and anopposite surface including raised or protruding portions comprising arelatively minor portion of the surface area to facilitate release ofthe packing material from rolled or stacked relation.

A further object is to provide a continuous strip of pressure sensitivepacking material in roll form having t a pressure sensitive adhesivecoated-continuous smooth liner facing and a corrugated medium securedthereto, the packing material characterized by the releasab-le adherenceof the tips of the corrugations to the adhesive means whereby theadhesive remains substantially unimpaired.

An additional object is to provide an article o-f manu- Y double-'facedpressure sensitive tape att-ached to a smooth liner facing of a singlefaced corrugated paperboard;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section of a length of the pressure ensitive packingmaterial being rolled into convolute orm;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the packing material withspaced apart strips of pressure sensitive tape attached to the liner ofthe corrugated paperboard and the protective liner of the tape inprocess of removal; Y

FIGURE 4 is a cross-section of a cushioning pad of a plurality ofthicknesses of pressure sensitive packing in process of formation; Y

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a sheet of pressure sensitive packingmaterial with the pressure sensitive adhesive tape or surfaces exposedto retain articles thereon;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of an article with protective encirclingbands of the pres-sure sensitive adhesive packing secured thereto withthe corrugations outwardly exposed.

A particular embodiment of the invention may be formed from a continuousband of single face corrugated board 9 comprised of a corrugated member10 which is permanently secured on one side to a liner 11 with theexposed flute tips or projections 15 freely exposed on the opposed sideas shown in FIGURE l. T'he pressure sensitive adhesive means may beconveniently applied to the smooth liner facing 11 in the form of adouble coated pressure sensitive tape 12 of the character described inU.S. Pa-tent No. 2,206,899. As described in this patent, thedouble-coated pressure sensitive tape 12 is comprised of a flexibletape'material 14 coated on both sides with `a suitable adhesivecomposition 16 and 17. The double coated tape is initially manufacturedwith a removable liner 13 which is separated and discarded uponapplication of the tape 14 to the liner 11.

The double-coated tape may be applied longitudinally of a continuousband of single-faced corrugated boa-rd 9 as shown in FIGURE 2 and theremovable liner 13 Simultaneous'ly removed in a continuous manufacturingoperation resulting in the composite flexible packaging material whichmay be rolled or sheeted and stacked with the exposed pressure sensitiveadhesive surface 16 in releasably adhered contact with the flute tips1-5 as shown in FIGURE 2.

The transverse width of the substrate or single lfaced 'corrugated board9 may range from a narrow strip with a single strip of double-coatedtape 14 to greater widths having two or more such tapes in spaced apartparallel relation according to a predetermined pattern consistent withthe intended usage. For convenience in manufacturing the narrow widthsmay be manufactured in multi-ple widths and then slit or severedlongitudinally as designated by the dotted line 18 in FIGURE 3.

For most purposes, the packing material 19 is Wound into rolls, FIGURE2, of a convenient size, for example 24 to 30 inches in diameter formedof about 250 to 300 feet of packing when the substrate is formed fromsocalled B-flute corrugated board having 5l flutes per -foot and athickness of approximately one-eighth inch. Alternately, the inventionmay be imbodied in the form of sheets, FIGURE 5, of a predetermined sizeconforming to the dimensions of a container in which it is to be placed.The sheet or pad 20 with one or more strips of pressure sensitive tape14 secured thereto is thus adapted to the retention of an arrangement offragile articles thereon such as glassware, china andA the like whichmay be retained in spaced intervals on the sheet in adhered contact withthe exposed pressure sensitive adhesive surfaces 16. Additionaldimensioned sheets of the packaging material 19 may be positioned in thesides or top of the container as the circumstances require.

The utility of the packaging material is further exemplified in FIGURE 4wherein a continuous strip 19 of the packaging material is being rolledup to the form of a built-up pfad which may be of any convenientdimension for purposes of positioning and cushioning articles in acontainer. The built-up pad is comprised of the single faced corrugatedboard 9 with the exposed adhesive 16 adhered to the exposed flute tipsto retain the built-up pad in the -desired conformation. FIGURE 4 showssuch a built-up pad during the process of assembly whereby it is obviousthat such pads may be conveniently prepared manually and thus adapted toshort-run or varied packaging requirements. At the same time it is to benoted that such built-up pads are equally adapted to mechanicalformation.

A further example of the utilization of the packaging material 19 isshown in FIGURE 6 wherein the exible strips are secured to individualarticles to be placed in a container for the purpose of cushioning orthe elimination of abrasion damage and the like. While the example showsthe packaging material secured to a refrigerator, the procedure isequally adapted to small fragile articles such as glass bottles,delicate electrical components and other articles of a similar nature.

While the packaging material has been described thus far in relation toan embodiment formed `from continuous bands of single faced corrugatedboard 9 with double coated pressure sensitive tape 14 secured thereto,the invention may also be embodied in a form wherein a pressuresensitive adhesive is coated directly on the liner 11 of a single facecorrugated board web 9. In this event a rubber-resin type pressuresensitive adhesive may be coated on the liner on a conventionalcorrugated board forming machine, not shown. The composition ofadhesives of this type are well known as for example the hereinbeforecited patents. It is well known to apply such adhesives lby spraying orroller coating in accordance with the various conventional practices.

Under certain conditions maximum economy may be gained through this lastdescribed embodiment of the invention as the additional cost of thedouble adhesive coating 16 and 17 and the supporting paper web 14 of thedouble faced tape is eliminated. In any case, the present inventionprovides a flexible single faced corrugated member with a pressuresensitive adhesive applied to the smooth liner facing either in apattern or over its entire surface and yet 4permits the material to berolled or stacked for convenient storage or handling prior to usage.Such rolled or stacked materials are releasably adhered in their`formation by the narrow line bonds of the adhesive to the free flutetips or projections on the opposed faces of adjacent plies of thematerial. Thus the greater portion of the adhesive surface remains freeof contact in such stacked or rolled relation of the material andremains unimpaired under any ordinary conditions of storage or handling.Whereas, the prior art required the protection of the pressure sensitiveadhesive areas by separable protective liners or special coatings, thepresent invention permits the omission of these expediencies and thusgains an economy and ease of utilization which is of considerablecommercial advantage. Even under conditions of prolonged storage underadverse temperature or moisture conditions, the instant inventionprovides a product which retains its usefulness in that the possibledeleterious effects of off-setting of the adhesive or picking of bres islimited to the relatively narrow line of bonds to the ute tips, contraryto the teachings in the prior art wherein it was necessary to retain avery fine balance in the differential adhesion between the adhesivematerial and the substrate and the adhesive material and the removableliners or release coated backing in the case of simple tape materials.Now, the structural relationships of the present flexible packingmaterial assures that at least a major portion of the adhesive surfaceis free of contact from any material, regardless of its relativeadhesion qualities, prior to usage and thus there is assurance ofcontinued effectiveness.

It is to be understood that the particular embodiments of the inventionherein described are illustrative and not restrictive. The invention issusceptible to embodiment in other modified forms and all suchembodiments which are similar or equivalent hereto come equally withinthe scope of the claims next appearing.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous strip of pressure sensitive packing material incylindrical roll form yhaving a continuous liner and a corrugated mediumpermanently secured to one side thereof with flute tips extendingopposite to said secured side, said liner and corrugating medium beingcoextensive in width, the exposed liner facing having pressure sensitiveadhesive thereon, said adhesive extending continuously the length of therolled strip, the strip material retained in roll form by the adherenceof said flute tips to said pressure sensitive adhesive and capable ofseparation for removal of a determined length of the strip packingmaterial with the adhesive substantially unimpaired.

2. A releasably adhered formation of a cushioning and protectivepackaging material, comprised of a multiple of layers of the material,said material having a smooth surface with pressure sensitive adhesivethereon and an opposite surface having protruding portions, theprotruding portions having tips comprising a minor portion of the areaof said opposite surface, said tips being adhered to an adjacent layersmooth surface by the pressure sensitive adhesive thereon and beingseparable therefrom with the pressure sensitive adhesive surfacesubstantially unimpaired.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,326,581 8/1943 Van Cleef161-145 2,576,278 K 11/1951 Bode 161-145 2,607,711 8/ 1952 Hendricks16'1-145 2,744,624 5/ 1956 Hoogstoel et al.

3,063,885 1l/l962 Kieffer 206-46 ALEXANDER WYMAN, Primary Examiner.

EARL M. BERGERT, Examiner.

R. I. ROCHE, M. A. LITMAN, Assistant Examiners.

1. A CONTINUOUS STRIP OF PRESSURE SENSTIVE PACKING MATERIAL INCYLINDRICAL ROLL FROM HAVING A CONTINUOUS LINER AND A CORRUGATED MEDIUMPERMANENTLY SECURED TO ONE SIDE THEREOF WITH FLUTE TIPS EXTENDINGOPPOSITE TO SAID SECURED SIDE, SAID LINER AND CURRUGATING MEDIUM BEINGCOEXTENSIVE IN WIDTH, THE EXPOSED LINER FACING HAVING PRESSURE SENSTIVEADHESIVE THEREON, SAID ADHESIVE EXTENDING CONTINUOUSLY THE LENGTH OF THEROLLED STRIP, THE STRIP MATERIAL RETAINED IN ROLL FORM BY THE ADHERENCEOF SAID FLUTE TIPS TO SAID PRESSURE SENSTIVE ADHESIVE AND CAPABLE OFSEPARATION FOR REMOVAL OF A DETERMINED LENGTH OF THE STRIP PACKINGMATERIAL WITH THE ADHESIVE SUBSTANTIALLY UNIMPAIRED.